Manufacture of golf-club shafts



Feb. 16 1926.

W. F. HOERLE MANUFACTURE OF GOLF CLUB SHAFTS Original Filed Nov. .18 1924 @5.2m cf ag-x.'

Patented Feb. 16, 192s.

UNITEDv ISTATES WILLIAM FERDINAND Holman, or ToRRINGroN, CoNNIsxcvJ'rICIrr, AssIefNoaI 'ro y UNION HARDWARE COMPANY, OF TORRINGTON,

OF CONNECTICUT.

CONNECTICUT,- A CORPORATION `MANUIIEACTURE OF GOLF-GLOB SHAFTS.

Original application led November 18, 1924, Serial No. 750,516. k:Divided and this application illed July 2,-1925. serial No.l 41,229. Y'

To all who/m, it may concer/n,

n Be it known that I, WILLIAM F. HOERLE, a citizen of the United States of Am'erica,'re siding at Torrington, county of Litchfield, State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Manufacture of Golf-Club Shafts,l of which the following is a specification. v

My invention relates to the art of making handles or shafts for golf clubs and this application is a division from application #7 50,516, filed November 18, 1924.

The ordinary wooden shaftis, kof course, quitev flexible and' has desirable torsional characteristics which make the club lively, but it is very fragile, uncertain in quality and considerably affected by moisture. It has heretofore been proposed to make such devices of steel. Some of these devices, however, have been very heavy. and non-torsionable andv others very fragile. Shafts have been made of steel strips formed into tubes but these are difficult to make uniformly and are likely to split open. So far as I know no one has heretofore been able to produce commercially an integral or seamless tubular golfclub shaft sufliciently well balanced, light and pliable to be useful and yet sufficiently strong to standthe severe stresses to which such a shaft is subjected. .y

The main object of my invention is to provide a' method of making a light but strong, smooth and durable metallic shaft which will look and act verv much like a first-class wooden shaft and yet not have the objectionable characteristics of wood.

I have also sought to provide a method of making shafts commercially according to standard specifications and at a low cost.

I have found it possible to make a satisfactory shaft from an ordinary cylindrical low carbon seamless steel tube by forming, shaping or drawing it, then carbonizing the v-tube and heat treat-ing and finishing it.

Figure 1 isa side View of a golf club of standard form having a shaft made according to my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side view of a tubular blank from which a shaft is made.

Fig. 3 is a side view of a finished shaft.

Figs.-4= and 5 are transverse sectional views of the shaft on an enlarged scale taken re spectively at the upper and lower endsv of the g y y QFigs. 6 and 7 are enlarged detail sectional vlews showing different ways of fastening a shaft in a head.

According to the preferred "method .of

manufacture Iuse 'a blank 7 ofseamless tubing of 1o`w carbon steel having say from about l() to 40' points of carbon that's'from about .1 to .4 of one percentum of carbon. The outside diameter of the'blank tubemay beabout 5/8 of an inch which may `be thediameter of the handle end of the shaft. The gauge of the metal is preferably'from .015 to .018j, although it may be slightly more or less. About .016V is quite desirable for a driver shaft.

This blank is'formed, rolled or swaged so as to reduce the diameter to the desiredsize at the head'end. For instance an ordinary golf club shaft would be somethingover 3 feet long and approximately 55, of an inch l vin diameter at the smallest point yin the neck y8. The reducing process should preferably elongate the tube and leave the wall thicker in the smallneck thanat'the larger handle end. An elongation of ten per cent is'usual. That is, from say p36 to-40. The torsibility 'ofthe tube gradually increases as the vsection is taken nearer the small end. This `also makes the tube more lexible'in the neck.

A satisfactory thickness ofthe wall at the neck would be .019.` although it may be a little thicker or a little thinner than this.

After the tube has been worked to the desiredshape and size, it is carbonizedin a suitable manner, for instance-in a gas fired tube or in a charcoal or coke furnace or electrically. This is done,preferably, at a comparatively low temperature, say 1450o F.

so as not to injure the steel. This carboniz- .7 5 percentum of carbon can be heat .treated and hardened.

' The tubeis then heat treated and drawn to the desired temper. It may then be provided with a suitable noncorrosive finish. Such a shaft should weigh from about ve to six ounces.

The length of course is a matter of accommodation to the individual. The weight will necessarily vary with the length. The weight and stiffness of some clubs is of course less critical than others. F or instance, a putter shaft does not need to be as flexible or torsible as a driver.

A low carbon steel tube is not only less expensive than a high carbon tube but it is much cheaper and easier to work without injury to the metal.` The rolling or swaging is preferably done cold and not only compacts the metal but draws out the fibre 1n the direction of the length of the shaft particularly in the smaller part so as to utilize the strength of the metal to its maximum extent. The working of the tube may be effected to produce a taper effect if desired. The carbonizing and heat treating processes release the internal stresses developed by the prior working process and make the steel susceptible of hardening and tempering a higher degree than would be possible with a low carbon steel. Carbonizing of a low carbon steel when properly done produces a condition wherethere is more carbon in the metal near the surface than there is inside. Consequently when hardened and tempered we have a hard exterior or skin and a softer interior and the tube is resilient and yet tougher and stronger than is possible kto get in a tube made from a so called high carbon steel.

The upper or handle end 9 of the tube may be left of uniform diameter if desired and provided with any suitable form of grip 10.

The shaft may be used with any style head. In Figure 1 I have shown a putter or iron provided with a socket 11. y To t such a socket I may provide the lower end of the shaft with a tapered enlargement 12 integral with the shaft and adapted to be fitted and held in the socket of the head in the same manner that a wooden shaft is held. It should be understood, of course, however, that the lower end may be inserted and held in any form of wooden head in substantially the same manner that a wooden shaft is held.

In some cases it may be desirable to reinforce the tube adjacent the head by means of a ferrule or plug such as 13 in Fig. 6. The curved end adjacentv the entrance to the socket in the head 14 permits slight bending of the shaft and yet reinforces it at this point where the stress is very great.

In case the socket 15 of the head is larger than the end of the shaft I may employ a filler ferrule 16. An inner plug 17 may be used to spread the end of the shaft in the socket and prevent the metal from buckling.

A pin 18 may be used to hold the parts together. A filler and plug would both serve to reinforce the tube at this point.

Such a shaft not only has the requisite strength to resist crushing and bending but it has torsional and flexible characteristics closely resembling those of a wooden shaft of high grade. Since the shaft is drawn, rolled or swaged from a seamless tube, there are no joints liable to open when the club is used and subjected to the severe strains of ordinary play. By this process it is possible to make shafts commercially in quantity production and with such standard characteristics as may be desired as to cost, weight, flexibility and torsibility.

I claim:

1. The process of forming a golf club shaft which comprises working and tapering a seamless steel tube having a carbon content of .10 to .4() percentum, carbonizing the tapered tube to increase the carbon content to about six tenths to one percentum, then heat treating,`hardening and tempering said tube.

2. The process o`f forming a tubular golf club shaft which comprises rolling and elongating thefibre of a thin walled low carbon seamless steel tube and reducing' the ,diameter at one end, then heating and carbonizing said tube to materially increase the carbon content throughout its thickness and then heat treating, hardening and tempering said tube.

3. 'Ihe process of forming a golf club shaft which comprises tapering a very thin walled low carbon seamless steel tube, carbonizing the tapered tube to substantially increase the carbon content throughout the entire thickness of the wall of the tube, then heat treating and hardening and tempering said tube.

4. The process of forming a tubular golf club shaft which comprises elongating and reducing a seamless drawn tube so as to increase the thickness of the metal and reduce the diameter at its lower end, then heating and carbonizing said tube to release internal stresses and increase the carbon content, and then hardening and tempering said tube.

5. The process of forming a tubular golf club shaft which comprises elongating a low carbon seamless tube about ten percentum and increasing the thickness of the metal at its lower end less than one hundred percentum, and decreasing the diameter of the tube at its lower end, then heating and carbonizing said tube to increase the carbon content to above .6 of a pereentum, and then hegt treating, hardening and tempering said tu e.

6. rThe process of forming a golf club shaft which comprises working a seamless steel tube having a carbon content of .10 to .40 percentum, reducing its diameter at one end, earbonizing the tube to increase the carbon content to about six tenths to one percentum, then heat treating, hardening l and tempering said tube.

7. The process of forming a tubular golf club shaft which comprises elongating a seamless drawn tube so as to increase thc thickness of the metal at its smaller end, then heating and carbonizing said tube to release internal stresses and increase the tube and reduce the diameter at one end, then heating and carbonizing the tube so as to add at least five tenths of one percentum of carbon to the metal and then heat, treating, hardening and tempering the carbonized tube.

9. The process of forming a flexible and torsionable shaft for a golf club which coniprises working a thin Walled low carbon steel tube at atmospheric temperature to elongate it and reduce the diameter at one end, then carbonizing the tube at a temperature of approximately 1450o F. to materially increase the carbon content, then heat treating, hardening and tempering the carbonized tube.

WILLIAM FERDINAND HOERLE. 

